Microphone arrangement for accordions



April 2, 1957 D. J. RUSSO MICROPHONE ARRANGEMENT FOR ACCORDIONS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 24, 1954 A ril 2, 1957 D. J. RUSSO MICROPHONE ARRANGEMENT FOR ACCORDIONS Filed ma 24, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I A I l l l ll 0 y M m [I 4 o L MU an.

United States Patent MICROPHONE ARRANGEMENT FOR ACCORDIONS Donald J. Russo, Maspeth, N. Y.

Application May 24, 1954, Serial No. 431,626

4 Claims. (Cl. 84-1.04)

The present invention relates to a microphone arrange ment for accordions, in general, and to an arrangement for amplification of sound from the bass and treble portions of the accordion, in particular.

It has been proposed before to provide accordion amplifiers comprising a microphone which is usually mounted in the sound chamber adjacent the reeds of the accordion. Due to its location, the microphone will usually emphasize the sound of the reeds most closely adjacent the same and will pick up the remaining tones less effectively.

Knowing the drawbacks of such arrangements, it has been further proposed to provide an amplifying attachment for an accordion which was designed to pickup the sound of all of the reeds at substantially similar volume so as to prevent the over-emphasis of certain notes. it was tried to obtain this end by supporting a baflle plate adjacent the diaphragm of the microphone so that all of the sounds affecting the microphone had to enter about this bafile plate. Thus, this baftle plate was devised to mix thoroughly the sounds or vibrations before affecting the microphone or being picked up thereby.

it has been found, however, that the arrangement of a baffie plate does not bring about an entirely satisfactory solution to this problem and also does not permit entirely to receive sound equally from the bass and treble portions or to emphasize the sound from one or the other of these portions at will.

It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide a microphone arrangement for accordions which comprises a two-microphone accordion pick-up of such design which will permit the player to be able to control the two microphones to suit his personal taste in obtaining more faithful reproduction of sound and also difierent combinations of sounds with a minimum of foreign noises.

it is another object of the present invention to provide a microphone arrangement for accordions which comprises two microphones which are disposed in planes substantially 90 apart, both microphones being mounted on a single mounting block which is properly secured to the treble reed block within the bellows of an accordion.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide two microphones disposed in planes substantially 90 apart, which microphones are secured to a single mounting block attached to the treble reed block and which mounting block also carries a terminal strip for the purpose of wiring the microphones with the loud speaker, and to form a single, easily attachable unit.

With these and other objects in view which will become apparent in the following detailed description, the present invention will be clearly understood in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of an end portion of an accordion showing at its front face the control knobs for the microphones;

Fig. 2 is a rear perspective view of the end portion of the accordion shown in Fig. 1, showing the two microphones attached thereto;

ice

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the two microphones mounted on one of the reed blocks;

Fig. 4 is a section along the lines 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a section along the lines S5 of Fig. 4.

Referring now to the drawings, the accordion 1, an end portion of which is shown only in Figs. 1 and 2, comprises the end section 2 which supports the keyboard elements 3 of the accordion 1. A plurality of reed blocks 4, 5 and 6 are detachably mounted in the end section 2 of the accordion 1. The reed blocks 4, 5 and 6 support corresponding reeds which are affected by the air passing through in the usual operation of the accordion 1.

A mounting block 7 is secured preferably to the reed block 5 by means of a single screw bolt 8 extending through the mounting block 7 into the reed block 5. The mounting block 7 is equipped with two longitudinally disposed small borings 9 and 10 which extend throughout the entire length of the mounting block 7 and are arranged at different levels therein and cross-wise spaced apart. A wire 11, preferably a piano wire, is inserted into the boring 9 of the mounting block 7, which wire 11 may be secured therein by a set screw 12 extending from the top face of the mounting block 7 to the boring 9 and thereby securing the wire 11 in the boring 9. The wire 11 is adapted to support a bass microphone 13 which is thus freely mounted within the bellows (not shown) of the accordion 1. A second wire 14, preferably again a piano wire, is inserted into the boring 1t) and secured therein by means of a set screw 15 extending from the top face down to the boring 10, thereby, retaining the wire 14 in the mounting block 7. The wire 14 is adapted to support a second microphone 16 and is bent at an angle of substantially in upward direction in order to maintain the microphone 16 in a plane which forms an angle of substantially 90 with the plane in which the microphone 13 is disposed.

A terminal strip 17 is likewise secured to the mounting block 7 by means of a fastening screw 18, which terminal strip 17 carries the terminals 19, 20 and 21 and provides connecting means for the wires 22 of the microphone 13 and the wires 23 of the microphone 16 as well as for the wires'24 leading to the control knobs 25, 26 and 27, respectively, which are adapted for the control of the microphones 13 and 16 and then to be connected with a loud speaker (not shown) in conventional manner.

Each of the microphones 13 and 16 comprises a layer of tape and three layers of velvet material which is preferably cemented or otherwise secured to the faces of the membranes 28 and 29, respectively, of the microphones. The entire unit is then placed into a foam rubber casing 30 and 31, respectively, which casings 30 and 31 are supported by the respective piano wires 11 and 14. Such support of the foam rubber casings 30 and 31 by the springy, shock-removing piano wire results in the elimination of almost all key noises and other foreign noises originating from the sound transmission through the body of the accordion 1.

The position of the microphone 16 is essential in maintaining a uniformity of sound between the high tones and the low tones throughout the entire instrument, while the position of the microphone 13 favors particularly the low tones coming from the bass reed blocks 4, 5 and 6. In addition, the provision of control means 25, 26 and 27 permits the further adjustment of the volume of sound received from each of the microphones to suit the personal taste of the individual player.

While I have disclosed one embodiment of the present invention, it is to be understood that this embodiment is given by example only and not in a limiting sense, the scope of the present invention being determined by the objects and the claims.

i claim:

1. In an accordion having reed blocks, keyboard elements disposed opposite said reed blocks in one end portion thereof and bellows secured to said end portion, an amplifier pick-up comprising two microphones disposed in planes substantially perpendicular to each other and adjacent the said reed blocks and one of the said microphones extending substantially perpendicularly to the said reed blocks and facing said keyboard elements and the other of the said microphones extending in direction parallel with the said reed blocks, and means for securing the said two microphones to the said accordion Within said bellows thereof spaced apart from said bellows and the said reed blocks.

2. The accordion, as set forth in claim 1, in which the said securing means comprises a mounting block screwed to one of the said reed blocks, and the said mounting block has parallel borings extending longitudinally therethrough, the said borings being disposed at different levels and spaced apart in crosswise direction, a Wire extending in each of the said borings with one of its ends and a set screw extending from the top face of the said mount ing block into each of the said respective borings to retain the said one of the ends of the said Wire in the corresponding boring, and the other end of each of the said cludes a terminal strip carrying a plurality of terminals and secured to the said mounting block, first Wire connections from the said microphones to the said terminals, control knobs for controlling the pick-up of the said microphones disposed on the said end portion of the accordion and second wire connections from the said terminals to the said control knobs, the second control knobs being adapted to control individually the volume of the pick-up of each of the said microphones, and the said mounting block together with the said microphones and the said terminal strip forming a single unit.

4. A microphone for an accordion pick-up comprising a base, a membrane a layer of velvet secured to one side of the said membrane and a soft rubber casing receiving the said membrane, and a cantilever spring connecting said soft rubber casing with said base, in order to eliminate substantially all key noises and all foreign noises resulting from sound transmission.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 23,162 Zaccagnino Oct. 25, 1942 1,682,409 Nyman Aug. 28, 1928 1,959,572 Craig May 22, 1934 2,460,408 Babicky Feb. 1, 1949 2,563,010 Boer et al Aug. 7, 1951 2,575,142 Sorkin Nov. 13, 1951 2,716,370 Sano Aug. 30, 1955 

